Guidelines of the American Society of Mammalogists for the use of wild mammals in research

Guidelines for use of wild mammal species are updated from the American Society of Mammalogists (ASM) 2007 publication. These revised guidelines cover current professional techniques and regulations involving mammals used in research and teaching. They incorporate additional resources, summaries of procedures, and reporting requirements not contained in earlier publications. Included are details on marking, housing, trapping, and collecting mammals. It is recommended that institutional animal care and use committees (IACUCs), regulatory agencies, and investigators use these guidelines as a resource for protocols involving wild mammals. These guidelines were prepared and approved by the ASM, working with experienced professional veterinarians and IACUCs, whose collective expertise provides a broad and comprehensive understanding of the biology of nondomesticated mammals in their natural environments. The most current version of these guidelines and any subsequent modifications are available at the ASM Animal Care and Use Committee page of the ASM Web site (http://mammalsociety.org/committees/index.asp).American Society of Mammalogist

The Evolutionary Relationships of the Skunks to Each Other and the Rest of the Weasels; with a note on Behavioral Idiosyncrasies

I will discuss four aspects of my current research with respect to skunks. The first concerns the recognition and conservation of potentially endangered populations of hog-nosed skunks. The second pertains to the evolutionary relationships among the three genera of skunks, based on genetic data. The third aspect also is based on molecular data, and is a study of the relationship of the skunks to the rest of the Mustelidae (weasels). Finally, I will discuss some of the behavioral idiosyncrasies I have observed in my endeavors to obtain skunk specimens

Systematic and Evolutionary Relationships Among North American Arid-Land Foxes

Intrapopulational variation was assessed for 14 cranial measurements in 205 specimens of the San Joaquin kit fox (Vulpes macrotis mutica). Variance components analysis revealed little secondary sexual variation relative to variation with age or individual variation. Both Tukey’s studentized range test and principal components analysis showed that subadult and adult males and females can be pooled for taxonomic study of geographic variation of these foxes. Old adults are significantly larger than subadults and adults and should be analyzed separately. The puppy age class is extremely variable and is not a useful for taxonomic analysis

Conepatus leuconotus (Carnivora: Mephitidae)

Dragoo, Jerry W., Sheffield, Steven R. (2009): Conepatus leuconotus (Carnivora: Mephitidae). Mammalian Species (Basel, Switzerland) 827 (2): 1-8, DOI: 10.1644/827.1, URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1644/827.